Orthopaedic implants may be constructed of porous metal to encourage bone growth into the orthopaedic implant. An example of such a material is produced using Trabecular Metal™ technology generally available from Zimmer, Inc., of Warsaw, Ind. Trabecular Metal™ is a trademark of Zimmer, Inc. Such a material may be formed from a reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) foam substrate which is infiltrated and coated with a biocompatible metal in the manner disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,861 to Kaplan, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The resulting infiltrated and coated material is lightweight, strong, and has open cells that are similar to the structure of natural cancellous bone, thereby providing a matrix into which cancellous bone may grow to fix the orthopaedic implant to the patient's bone. The coated metal layer of the material may contain up to 2,000 ppm oxygen, up to 2,000 ppm nitrogen, and up to 500 ppm hydrogen. However, to achieve desired mechanical properties with this coated metal layer, the material is densified to a relative density of 18% or more, such as from 18% to 25%.